Oh man, what an ordeal this was!!
It all started on Saturday night the 12th. Rafael asked me if my stomach hurt because he was having some issues and wondered if it was something we ate. I kissed him goodnight, he just felt like laying on the couch. Right after I went to bed I could hear him throwing up so I got up. Poor guy was in pretty sad shape. I went back to bed. At 3:30am he woke me doubled over in pain and said "Baby, I'm not doing so well." I was a bit confused, since I was still in a twilight slumber. I got up and he was just just moaning, in so much pain. He told me that he had been in the restroom so much, that now it was just blood (sorry for the wealth of information). I have NEVER seen Rafael this way. He is pretty tough when it comes to pain, but it was obvious that something was very wrong. I called 911 and the ambulance came. When they asked him his pain level from 1-10 he said 10. He was hurting so bad. They took him. I cried…. and cried and cried. I wanted to go with him so bad. Ava, Reese and Valerie were all sleeping. I laid back down and stared at the dark walls in our room for the next 4 hours awaiting a call, text, ANYTHING from him.
I finally got a text from him around 7:30. He was still in the ER. They had done lots of blood work, taken a stool sample and done a CT scan in which they could see a significant amount of infection in his intestines. They were going to admit him to the hospital, but were waiting for still sample results to come back to find out if he needed to be isolated. They were concerned that he may have an infection called C DIFF which is contagious and easy to spread to others in a hospital setting.
We all got ready and headed to the hospital to see Daddy. When we got there he was still in the ER. We visited for a short time. He was still hurting pretty bad, and the girls were noisy and into everything. It just wasn't good timing for a visit. When we got home Raf called and said the C DIFF result came back negative. Phew!! They finally got him a room that afternoon. We went back to visit once he got a room. It was bigger than the little ER room, and his pain was managed a little better with the meds by that point. There were other cultures from his stool sample that would take another day to come back. They were testing for any type of bacteria, Ecoli, Salmonella, lots of stuff. They had him on an anti nausea medication too that seemed to help him with the cramping he was having. So now… we just have to wait. The girls and I headed home. It was so hard to just leave him there. Our home seemed so empty without him. I hated knowing that he was all alone in that hospital room. All I wanted to do was curl up in his bed with him and wait it out. It was so hard for me to handle my responsibilities as a Mommy when my mind was 100% with my hubby.
Sunday night came and it was the first time I had to take on the bedtime routine with all 3 girls by myself. I failed miserably. Ava and Reese weren't getting into bed like I asked, Valerie was crying, mayhem all over the place. I broke down and just started to cry. Reese has never seen me cry like that, and for some reason she thought it was funny. Reese laughing made Ava laugh, and I ended up walking out of their room telling them it wasn't funny and just turning off their lights. Well, then they both burst into tears. They both cried for about 10 minutes while I fed Valerie and put her down. I went back into their room and cried with them. We all sat snuggled in the dark and I sang them some songs. I told them I was so sorry, this was really hard for Mommy and I really needed their help. They both seemed to understand and went to bed quickly after that. Then I went to bed and cried myself to sleep. WOW!! This whole experience has really made me realize how much I depend on Rafael in every aspect of my life!!
The next morning we went to visit again. Then again that afternoon. By then he had seen the GI doctor, who seemed to still think Raf had C DIFF. They decided to take another stool sample and re-test for the infection. When we came back that afternoon they had a big red sign on his door that said "STOP, INFECTIOUS BACTERIA". Oh man!! Really?! I started to worry a bit that the girls had been exposed to something horrible. I already couldn't deal with Rafael having this, so now I had to worry about our babies catching it too?! They put the sign up there because of the C DIFF re-test.
Well, the next morning we found out that it was again…negative. He did not have C DIFF. They took down the big red sign. My neighbor watched Ava and Reese so I could go spend some time with him. I took Valerie with me. Ava, Reese, Val and I went back again that afternoon. He was still experiencing a significant amount of pain, but the hospital staff was managing it pretty well when it would come on with his medication. The next morning (Tuesday) the GI doc scheduled a colonoscopy. I called my sister to see if she could come and stay with Ava and Reese so I could go and be there when Raf got out. They had planned to do a colonoscopy and take biopsies throughout his intestines top figure out what this crazy bug was! Christina came, and Valerie and I headed to the hospital. We walked in the room as soon as they had just brought Rafael back in from the OR. He was feeling pretty good and was awake through the whole thing! The GI doc showed him on the screen where all the infection was, and he had a pretty significant amount of swelling in his colon. They took biopsies throughout his intestines, but would't have results until Friday. FRIDAY?!! Oh my gosh I was so worried that they were going to make him stay in the hospital until then!
The next morning I got a text from Rafael. He really wanted to come home and was going to see if they would release him. He had been of the IV liquids and meds since Tuesday after the colonoscopy, so he didn't see much point in laying in the hospital bed when he could be laying at home. OH MY GOSH I was so excited about this possibility!! He sent another message an hour later saying that he was going to be released, just waiting on paperwork! ACK!!!!!! It felt like the BEST Christmas, Easter, Birthday, WHATEVER excited feeling I have ever had!!! When I hung up I told Ava and Reese "LET'S GO GET DADDY!!!!!!!" They were so excited!!!!
OH man, was it so wonderful to finally have Daddy home!! Our house was a home again!!
Friday came.. Rafael called the doctor twice for results and never got a call back. I was so frustrated that we now had to wait until Monday for results. Monday came and 2 more messages left and still no call back. ARGH!!! I was mad. I told Rafael if they didn't call him Tuesday, I was going to drive over to the hospital and not leave until they gave us an answer. Well, Tuesday he finally got ahold of a nurse. The diagnosis is Ischemic Colitis. I spent about 2 hours googling it, and find lots of different information. Basically, it is caused by hardening of the artery that supplies blood to your colon. Rafael has an appointment on Friday this week and I'm sure we will get a wealth of information on that visit! I am SO thankful that it is not Cancer, or Chrone's disease, or something else life threatening!
